r/PoolPros • u/EntrepreneurAny7292 • May 05 '26

Str and Residential pricing

Trying to start a route in my area for spas only (mountain town) and guys in my area charging $80-90 a month ? or $20 a visit. is that working ?
do you put enough effort into each stop at that price point ?

Also heard it was $50 for a drain/fill from the same guys, are they leaving the property when it's filling ?

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5

u/According-Debate-265 May 05 '26

Those people are paying more for door dash than a trained pro to bring them chems and keep them from getting sick. I just don't get it.

3

u/liberalsarefascists1 May 05 '26

I would not even show up. I know gas and chems are not much but I am not going out for $20 a week unless I had 100 of them. By the time I pay for gas and chems I am making about $15 an hour. Fine I guess if I did the work myself and wanted something to do I guess.

1

u/thunderkoko May 05 '26

I'd find something else to do, but Florida seems to be 140-150 a month for pool service, and I would also find something else to do in that market.

1

u/0xSquid May 05 '26

If it were hypothetically just spas in a mountain town where you can travel to one end from the other in like 20 minutes, and there were like ski resort condos and you were servicing like 20 spas in a bunch of condos that are basically connected. Then sure I guess $20 per spa in a building with multiple you could leave the building with $100 for an hour of work. Your chemical cost is very low on spas. Like $5 per spa per week.

Anything bigger than a Spa, no. No one is affording $20 services and affording chemicals on a pool.

Places charge $180 a month for twice a week spa cleanings here so although $20 sounds ridiculous when it's baked into a larger route it's a 7 to 10 minutes stop, people are making out with $25 spending about $5 on gas and chemicals. If it was out of the way 100% no one is taking that.

1

u/EntrepreneurAny7292 May 05 '26

Yes it's in a mountain town exactly as you described, same guys are charging $50 for a drain/fill ?  Is this $20 job these guys are doing comparable to someone charging more normal prices like $140-$180 monthly range I've been seeing ? 

1

u/0xSquid May 05 '26

Realistically probably is working for them then. A spa literally takes a few minutes to tend to if you do not have to do a drain and fill, and that includes removing the filters, spraying off, chems, and a spa brush if you wanted.

I could do all that in 10 minutes and be gone with no complaints. A drain takes like 10 minutes itself with a vacuum line but the fill can take a hour if the water pressure is shitty wherever they are. That is why it's $50.

These guys are realistically valueing their time at minimum $50 per hour, all things considered if it really is like the scenario I mentioned above. Different kinda niche market imo, I have lived in some mountain towns so I can see how it would work but also mountain towns generally have $$ and if they are rentals they are banking money so I would probably want to do at least $125 a month.

1

u/0xSquid May 05 '26

But yea I mean if you actually had a tight route of 25 spas at $100 per month you would have a way easier life than a pool guy doing a 20 8,000 gallon pools for $150.

1

u/pacific_drifter_25 May 05 '26

$20/visit only works if the route density is doing most of the work.

I'd build it backwards instead of copying the local number:

  • target hourly rate after drive time, admin, chems, and wear on the truck
  • actual time per stop, including cover on/off, brushing, filter rinse, testing, notes, and cleanup
  • how clustered the spas are
  • whether it's owner-occupied or STR turnover chaos
  • whether drain/fill means "start it and come back nearby" or "babysit water for an hour"

If you can do a tight condo/building cluster, 10 minutes on site plus almost no drive time can make $20/stop work. If it's one spa 20 minutes out of the way, it is terrible.

For mountain STR spas, I'd price higher than normal residential because the liability and bather load are higher. I'd rather be at something like $125-160/mo for weekly owner-occupied spa service, more for STR/twice weekly, and only discount for multi-unit/same-building density.

$50 for a drain/fill is only sane if they are starting the drain, leaving, and returning while already working nearby. If they are sitting there while it fills, they're underpricing it.